My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1440: The Death of the Nameless Immortal

The flow of time within the Darkest Star Sea was inherently inconsistent due to the existence of the Immortal Ruins. Thus, Li Fan only compared the Xuanhuang Realm with the Blissful City of the Shuo Star Sea.

Under normal circumstances, the difference was astonishingly as much as one hundred and twenty times!

In other words, more than one hundred and twenty years could pass in the Shuo Star Sea while barely a single year passed in the Xuanhuang Realm.

"With a time flow more than a hundred times faster, it is no wonder the difference between the inside and outside of the High Wall is so enormous."

"Even the current state of the Shuo Star Sea is already vastly different from when Qin Zhuang left. Truly, times have changed."

After initially constructing a projection of the Great Dao and a miniature Dao Net within himself, Li Fan's understanding of the Dao had already reached an entirely new stage.

Thus, when faced with this bizarre phenomenon of differing time flows, Li Fan naturally began to harbor doubts.

"In theory, when the Hunger character art is comprehended to its utmost limit, it can indeed produce such an effect. But..."

"That should be a manifestation that only an Immortal who proved the Nameless Dao through Hunger would possess."

Various scenes of the Hunger Immortal he had witnessed in the past flashed through Li Fan's mind.

When Cat Treasure appeared in the world, she had been captured in a sorry state. When the black tide of qi that heralded the Dao Annihilation Calamity appeared, rather than the calamity itself descending, she had already been terrified at the sight of it. It seemed that she could only rely on the Southern Immortal Celestial Pillar to survive the calamity. Even when Evil Su Bai approached her extremely closely and stepped on her face, she remained completely unaware.

"She may be only a single step away from becoming Nameless. But the difference contained within that single step manifests externally as a difference between heaven and earth!"

"The abnormal flow of time in the Darkest Star Sea should not have been caused by the Hunger Immortal. Or rather, only a small part of it may be related to her comprehension of the Dao."

"The greater reason seems to originate from the Immortal Ruins themselves."

Li Fan recalled the scenes he had witnessed within the Immortal Ruins.

Aside from the vast stretches of ruins and remnants, the most striking feature was the enormous character, [Hunger], engraved upon the earth.

Li Fan had previously speculated that this character, Hunger, might have been personally inscribed by the Inscription Dao Immortal. Now, it seemed that this character might contain another profound secret.

"The Hunger Immortal can break free from the shackles on her body at any time. Those golden chains were clearly restraints she placed upon herself. The Immortal Ruins were once the location of a passage leading to the Immortal Realm. When the Dao Annihilation Calamity struck the Immortal Realm, the Great Dao collapsed upon itself and all things disintegrated. The surviving immortals fled desperately from the Immortal Realm into the lower realm through the Immortal ascension passage."

Li Fan reconstructed and deduced the scenes from that time.

"The Dao Annihilation Calamity was powerful enough to destroy even the Immortal Realm. At that time, who could guarantee that this terrifying calamity would not spread downward through the ascension passage? In theory, the farther away one fled, the better. Yet the Hunger Immortal stopped in such a dangerous place. She even disregarded the danger and began comprehending the Dao right there..."

"In the past, I overlooked the aspects of this that did not make sense."

Li Fan's gaze involuntarily shifted once again toward the direction of the Immortal Ruins above his head.

"If the Hunger Immortal truly needed to rely on the True Immortal seal script engraved upon the earth to comprehend the Dao, she could simply have carried away the entire piece of land along with the character. She could have secluded herself in a safe place and comprehended the Dao afterward."

"Yet she did not do so."

"The Dao Annihilation Calamity suddenly came to a halt. It did not spread into the lower realm. The phenomenon caused by the True Immortal seal script on the land of the Immortal Ruins had even reached the level of the peak of Dao comprehension, the realm of the Nameless Immortal. And the leg bone of the Nameless Immortal that served as the Immortal Celestial Pillar..."

These numerous clues passed through Li Fan's mind one by one. Eventually, they became completely connected, pointing toward the possibility closest to the truth.

"The Hunger Immortal did not move that character, [Hunger], not because she was unwilling. She simply could not. Because beneath that character, or perhaps the character itself, was transformed from the remains of a Nameless True Immortal!"

"This Nameless Immortal, whether willingly or by force, in any case, after falling, returned to the Great Dao and transformed their body into a Celestial Pillar. They temporarily held back the collapsing heavens of the Immortal Realm!"

"And precisely because the Nameless Immortal who proved the Dao through Hunger died, the one within the Immortal Ruins had the intention of comprehending the Hunger character and proving the Nameless Dao anew!"

Li Fan's heart trembled as his thoughts once again spread outward.

Given the boundlessness of the Immortal Realm and the lower realm star sea, there was a very high probability that the so called ascension passages were not limited to a single location.

Judging from the current state of the lower realm star sea, although the vast majority of regions had already been destroyed by the Dao Annihilation Calamity, quite a few surviving regions still remained.

"Perhaps this is the protection of other Nameless True Immortals!"

"They used themselves as pillars to withstand the overwhelming calamity descending from above."

Li Fan let out a long breath.

"If the High Wall is the fallen ruins and broken remnants of what once stood, then the Nameless Immortals are the pillars above it."

"With the protection of Nameless True Immortals, the Darkest Star Sea has already become this desolate..."

"Perhaps the lower realm star sea is able to continue sustaining life precisely because of the sacrifices made by the Nameless True Immortals."

Nameless True Immortals had entered the Dao with their very bodies. Compared with ordinary beings, or even True Immortals, they could be said to have become an entirely different species.

But this was merely Li Fan's own view.

Perhaps among these Nameless True Immortals were people naturally noble like Su Bai, willing to sacrifice themselves to save the living beings of heaven and earth, even if only temporarily.

Or perhaps the immortals who had fled downward had already foreseen that the Dao Annihilation Calamity would pursue them. For the sake of their own survival, they needed some people to step forward and "sacrifice themselves", buying everyone enough time to escape.

In any case, some Nameless True Immortals had transformed into pillars standing between heaven and earth, temporarily holding back the Dao Annihilation Calamity.

However, this method could only preserve life for a time. It could not provide protection for eternity.

The Dao Annihilation Calamity could only be delayed. It could never disappear.

"Behind the Dao Net, there are faint traces of these immortals' handiwork."

"Some of the Dao Net nodes I have glimpsed even carry the aura of the remains of Nameless True Immortals."

Yet Li Fan was not surprised by this.

The miniature Dao Net within Li Fan's divine sense was merely a projection. He deeply understood just how difficult it was to make a real, tangible creation conform to the ethereal and intangible Great Dao.

"When the Dao Net operates, it is constantly shifting and unstable."

"The enormous hand I glimpsed outside the Dao Net, which was used to stabilize it, can only serve as supplementary support. That hand clearly does not manifest constantly. The things truly anchoring the Dao Net..."

Li Fan seemed to see that Dao Net stretching across heaven and earth once again.

All the other insignificant lines disappeared.

Only several of the most crucial nodes remained.

They belonged to the Dao Net, yet at the same time, they existed within the Great Dao of heaven and earth!

It was precisely because of the peculiar nature of these nodes that the Dao Net could remain firmly affixed to the invisible and formless Great Dao of heaven and earth!

"Nameless True Immortals!"

"There is even a very high possibility that they are living Nameless True Immortals!"

After his divine sense had transformed into a spirit, Li Fan once again peered into the true secrets of the Dao Net.

In his field of vision, the few remaining Dao Net nodes unexpectedly began to faintly manifest the indistinct forms of human figures.

Then, as if sensing Li Fan's gaze, they suddenly opened their eyes without warning!

One Nameless True Immortal after another seemed to reveal their true forms.

All of them turned their gazes toward Li Fan!

An inexplicable sense of terror surged through Li Fan's heart. Startled, he immediately broke free from the illusion.

The human figures were gone. The nodes seemed to be nothing more than ordinary nodes.

Yet Li Fan's heart remained far from calm.

Was it merely an illusion?

Li Fan did not think so.

Having cultivated to his current realm, even a genuine Immortal-grade illusion formation would already find it extremely difficult to affect him.

Nor would hallucinations inexplicably appear before his eyes.

“The most likely explanation is…”

“The nodes of the Nameless True Immortals simultaneously exist within both the Dao Net and the Great Dao.”

“The projections of the Great Dao within my Consciousness Soul Transformation have likewise reflected these nodes into existence.”

“So, in a certain sense, I truly did see them!”

With a turn of his thoughts, Li Fan reached this conclusion.

Soon, another question surfaced in his mind.

Since Li Fan could see them, could these Nameless True Immortals see Li Fan as well?

Inevitably, a wave of unease surged through Li Fan's heart.

He considered himself capable of contending with the Nameless True Immortals. But that did not mean he could remain completely composed under the gaze of several Nameless True Immortals.

Although his spiritual intuition, which had always been extremely accurate, was not giving him any warning of danger at this moment, and although he had already been nailed into the Dao Net and become a “living anchor” node, the Nameless True Immortal existences Li Fan sensed still made him feel as though he were sitting on pins and needles, with thorns pricking his back.

But for Li Fan to give up the power of Consciousness Soul Transformation that he had already obtained simply because this danger had yet to arrive was absolutely impossible!

Li Fan's true body rapidly turned over various thoughts in his mind as he considered how to respond.

Meanwhile, in Blissful City of the Shuo Star Sea, Li Fan's divine sense incarnated as Ma Tiande had already begun preparing for the Blissful City Grand Ceremony.

The all-range communication ability of Consciousness Soul Transformation allowed his divine sense to disregard the restrictions of spacetime and instantly know everything his true body had deduced.

But those troubles could be left to his true body to bear.

What his divine sense needed to do now was continue lying low within Blissful City and further investigate the Dao Net.

But first, he had to get through the Blissful City Grand Ceremony right before him.

Scholar Zhu was clearly extremely resistant to the Dao Net's erosion. However, for some reason, he would not directly turn hostile. Instead, he would vent his anger upon Ma Tiande, who appeared before him and was directly responsible for carrying out tasks.

A cultivator like Ma Tiande, although wearing the identity of a Dao Net operator, was still nothing more than an ant in Scholar Zhu's eyes.

Li Fan sat quietly within Ma Tiande's residence, pondering how to escape.

“This time, the Saber Island side did not show Scholar Zhu any respect. Not a single person came. The Sword Domain, on the other hand, sent three cultivators to participate.”

“The identities of these three people are still unknown, but as representatives of the top power in the Shuo Star Sea, their lives should not be as precarious as mine.” Li Fan's divine sense mocked himself inwardly.

“Throughout the entire Shuo Star Sea, only the Sword Domain is participating. Although it is called a grand ceremony, in reality, it is merely Scholar Zhu amusing himself. And we are his toys.”

Within Ma Tiande's memories were scenes from grand ceremonies of the past.

After spending three years indulging themselves in pleasure within Blissful City, the living beings would begin slaughtering one another without restraint. Only when just a few survivors remained would the slaughter finally stop.

These survivors might even rejoice at having escaped from an endless hell. But they would never know that they were merely enticing fruits on Scholar Zhu's plate.

“Everyone invited to participate in the grand ceremony can devour these fruits of slaughter.”

“They truly are extraordinarily precious divine medicines. Even though my true body has already reached the realm of Consciousness Soul Transformation, they are still greatly beneficial. But for the weak, they are nothing short of deadly poison!”

Li Fan understood Scholar Zhu's intentions perfectly.

Yet he was not so petty as to insist on putting Ma Tiande to death.

It was merely a fruit that could absolutely be considered a heavenly treasure. Who could blame him if he could not withstand it?

“With my divine sense now strengthened, consuming the fruit of slaughter should not be a problem.”

“The difficult part is how to swallow the fruit safely without arousing suspicion from Scholar Zhu or the Sword Domain cultivators at the grand ceremony. After all, judging from the strength Ma Tiande has displayed, there is absolutely no reason for him to survive the fruit of slaughter.”

Although abandoning Ma Tiande's identity would not cause any significant loss, Li Fan's divine sense was unwilling to disappear in such a humiliating manner.

“Perhaps the opportunity lies within the Dao Net of Blissful City.”

'Ma Tiande' raised his head and looked at the invisible dark clouds shrouding the skies above Blissful City, a strange expression appearing on his face.

Not long afterward, three streaks of sword light descended from beyond the heavens.

“Junior Ji Xingdao!”

“Junior Situ Tiantian!”

“Junior Zhao Xing!”

“Greetings, Scholar Zhu!”

Three sonorous voices resounded across the heavens. Two men and one woman.

Their voices had barely faded into the sky when the three had already flown into Blissful City.

The City Lord's Residence suddenly materialized from nothingness.

It drew the three people from the Sword Domain inside.

At the same time, Scholar Zhu's somewhat coquettish voice reached Li Fan's ears.

“Come quickly and help me receive our guests.”

A wave of disgust immediately surged through Li Fan's heart.

Following Ma Tiande's past habits and mannerisms, he did not conceal it, allowing the disgust to appear directly on his face.

He knew that this was Scholar Zhu's most psychologically twisted and unfathomable state.

Li Fan proceeded toward the City Lord's Residence with extreme caution.

By the time he entered the residence, the three people from the Sword Domain were already seated.

Li Fan glanced at them. All three looked extremely young. They could even be described as somewhat childish. Their eyes were clear and foolish, with almost no signs of cunning or worldly experience.

Clearly, the Sword Domain intended to use the fruits of slaughter refined in Blissful City to give these three youngsters some tempering.

“Even with such a method of rapid cultivation, even if they can withstand it, their temperaments will probably become somewhat twisted, perhaps even insane.”

“Three excellent seedlings. Even in our Xuanhuang Realm, they could be considered prodigies. Is the Sword Domain really willing to waste them like this?”

Without revealing anything, Li Fan first bowed to Scholar Zhu.

Then, with an arrogant expression, he merely nodded slightly toward the three people from the Sword Domain.

In theory, the Dao Net operators of the Administration Council were not inferior in status to the three people from the Sword Domain.

But in reality…

Consumable materials could be replaced without limit. Direct disciples, however, required painstaking effort to nurture.

The two were clearly not beings of equal status.

The three disciples of the Sword Domain seemed to understand this as well.

They did not become angry at Ma Tiande's attitude. Instead, they exchanged a smile, completely unconcerned.

They first happily drank the three bowls of red broth before them.

Compared to what Li Fan had tasted before, it looked even more horrifying. It contained not only eyeballs, but also the severed flesh and blood of various monsters that did not belong to humanity.

Yet the three from the Sword Domain remained completely unfazed. Their expressions did not change in the slightest as they savored it carefully.